Happy birthday, Audrey!!

I wholeheartedly disapprove of birthdays because it means my baby is growing up! But I guess if she has to, I couldn't think of a sweeter, more precious little girl to celebrate.

One day old:

1 year old:

2 years old:

  

Happy birthday to the girl who brings joy to my heart every single day. I cannot imagine life without you and am so glad you have been my own sweet Audrey for these past two years! Love you very much!!

Birthday party

Tonight we celebrated Audrey's birthday a day early with all our family. We decided on an outdoor party, this time in our backyard.

To combat a fly problem we have been having for the past week or so, we tried this homemade remedy - hanging a bag of water with pennies in it up. And it actually worked! Something about how it makes prisms the flies don't like. It didn't keep them away completely, but it helped immensely - we had people over yesterday and there were SWARMS! Yuck. But this was much better.

 

We also borrowed my parents' popcorn machine, which added a fun element to the party. I want one of these!

Here's the outdoor decor:

 

The cake, which I decorated myself and am pretty proud of! I'm no baker, but this was pretty fun to do:

 

 Watching the cake come out:

 The people:

  

 

 

 Soooo glad to see Owen!

The presents

Not quite sure what to do with the picnic table!

Upon opening her cards, she would read "Happy birthday!" Such a smart girl!

 We have a new driver in the family!

What a fun party for a 2 year old!! :)

An interview with a 2 year old (minus 4 days)

Today I asked my little almost two year old (!) 20 questions. Most of the answers were what I expected. She answered "furdur" to a lot of them, her nonsense word, so it was clear that for some of them, she a) didn't have a clue what I was asking or b) didn't care. But she surprised me with a few of them and answered with a true sentiment - I was surprised that she basically grasps what "favorite" means. Here are her answers, with no prompting from me:

1. What is your name? --Audrey
2. How old are you? -- Five (wha?)
3. When is your birthday? --Happy birthday
4. Who is your mommy? --Mommy birthday
5. Who is your daddy? --Daddy birthday
6. What does your mommy do? --Furdur
7. What does your daddy do? --Happy birthday (birthdays are on her mind, evidently)
8. Who is your best friend? --Daddy (dang it)
9. What is your favorite color? --This (points indiscriminately at something)
10. What is your favorite toy? --Doggie (stuffed animal within sight)
11. What is your favorite fruit? --Nana (banana)
12. What is your favorite movie? --Pooh (at this point the questioning degenerated into a series of Audrey asking me to watch a movie and me telling her no, and then her crying)
13. (After she got over #12) What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? --Raisins
14. What is your favorite animal? --Furdur
15. What is your favorite song? --Happy ("You are My Sunshine" - she calls it Happy)
16. What is your favorite book? --Furdur
17. Who is your favorite person? --Furdur
18. What is your favorite thing to do outside? --Swing (and then we had to go outside and swing)
19. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? --Papis (pacis)
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? --Furdur

That was really fun. I think I'll do that again next year!

Happy Daddy Birthday!!

 Nick's birthday is today! We celebrated on Saturday with his mom and some cake (notice the 31 and then 3 extra candles - I'm so lazy). And for the record, the icing was chocolate chip icing, which is why it looks lumpy. Then today Nick took the day off and we went to the ZOO!! We got free passes through the library, which was really nice. We got there right as it opened and felt like we had the place to ourselves until right at the end. We definitely got there at a good time. 

We saw flamingos:

A mommy panda, who had just given birth to twins two days ago:

Doesn't this look like Audrey is touching her? So fun for her to see up close and personal, but behind safety glass!!

Orangutans, who looked highly amused at being watched and seemed to be watching us right back:

 Audrey was mesmerized:

A monkey saying hello:

Audrey was really unsure about posing with these gorillas:

So we joined her:

 Giraffes:

 And a few others, some of which I'd like to forget (like the naked mole rat - UGH!)

Then Audrey and I rode the carousel, which she wasn't entirely sure about:

 And we all three rode the train:

And then we went home! Tonight Nick and I are going out to dinner and a movie (YAY!). So happy birthday Daddy/Nick! We love you!!!

Cow Appreciation Day

Today was Chick fil A's Cow Appreciation Day, where if you dress up like a cow, they give you a free meal. So Stacy and I and our kids went for dinner tonight, all decked out as bovine. And while it was nice to get a free meal, it was rather hectic, especially once the crowds rolled in (we went early). I think the kids enjoyed themselves, despite Audrey barely smiling. That girl is determined to never look happy when I pull a camera out!

Stacy and the littlest cow, Evan:

This picture cracks me up:

And this is her reaction to seeing the giant cow when he came in the restaurant. She did not know what to make of him, but eventually settled on announcing "COW!" and moving on with her dinner (or should I say, "moooooving").

 Playing on the playground:

Stacy and me in our reverse chromatic cow getups (my ears had fallen by this point, but you get the idea):